"Paul Doyle suggested in a recent minute-by-minute report that a potential Newcastle-Tottenham shoot-out could be the worst ever and end nil-nil. It got me thinking, what is the worst penalty shoot-out there has ever been?" asked Mike Gibbons last week.

As Bill Martin, Florian Kinast and Paul Fields all point out, the shoot-out in the 1986 European Cup final takes some beating. Barcelona and Steaua Bucharest had played out 120 of the most tedious minutes of football ever witnessed in a major final, and with the scores at 0-0 the game went to penalties, at which point both teams missed their first two. The Romanians then found their shooting boots and knocked home their next two, but Barça, then managed by Terry Venables, twice more failed to beat Helmuth Duckadam in the Steaua goal. Duckadam, who became known as 'the hero of Seville', had saved all four spot-kicks from José Alexanko, Ángel Pedraza, Pichi Alonso and Marcos Alonso, enabling Steaua to run out 2-0 winners.

Sadly Duckadam, who at 27 was reaching his peak years as a goalkeeper, was forced to retire shortly after his finest hour. "Just a few weeks after his epic moment," writes Florian, "Duckadam's career came to an end due to a rare vascular disease in his right arm."

Florian also points to Thailand's 1-0 win on penalties over Bangladesh in the 1973 Merdeka Tournament, in which Singapore also beat Cambodia 1-0 in a shoot-out.

The world record for the worst-ever penalty shoot-out, however, is quite predictably held by a pair of English sides. In January 1998 Under-10 sides Mickleover Lightning Blue Sox and Chellaston Boys faced off in the Derby Community Cup. The game finished 1-1 and the Blue Sox won 2-1 on penalties, though not until a remarkable 66 penalties had been taken. Thanks to Paul Haynes for that one.

All these and many other penalty-related facts, including the best-ever shootouts, can be found at the ever-marvellous rsssf.com

THE BIGGIST PLUG OUTSIDE THE BFG'S BATH

Coming soon, The Knowledge in book form, a collection of our favourite questions and answers from the past eight years.

THE 30-YEAR CREDIT CRUNCH

"I read last year that Glenn Murray was the most expensive player Brighton had signed since Terry Connor joined in 1983 (as part of a swap deal with Andy Ritchie) - does any club have a longer-standing record signing?" asked Ben Peachey last week.

Brighton's transfer record actually stretches back to October 1980 and the £500,000 signing of Ritchie from Manchester United, and there are few clubs in England that can surpass it.

Few, indeed, come close. 1989 is a year from which several clubs' transfer records still stand. Luton (Lars Elstrup, £850,000 from Odense), Leyton Orient (Paul Beesley, £175,000 from Wigan), Bournemouth (Gavin Peacock, £210,000 from Gillingham) and Millwall (Paul Goddard, £800,000 from Derby County) will all be celebrating, if that is the right word, the 20th anniversary of their biggest splurge next year.

Surpassing Brighton, if only by a few months, are Rotherham United. The £150,000 the Millers paid Millwall for the services of Tony Towner in August 1980 has never been exceeded by the club, though they have equalled it on three occasions since for the strikers Lee Glover, Alan Lee and Martin Butler.

Rob Davies, Mickey Smith and Tom Lines also email with a mixture of pride and embarrassment to offer the name of Walsall's record signing Alan Buckley. "Buckley was bought from Birmingham City in June 1979 for the then enormous transfer fee of £175,000," writes Rob. "He went on to manage the club and holds a special place in the hearts of many Walsall fans."

Walsall claim the record for Football League clubs, but it would appear that Wrexham hold the overall title. They forked out £210,000 for Liverpool's Joey Jones in October 1978, a figure unsurpassed since. And with the club currently languishing in the Blue Square Premier, there's little prospect of it being eclipsed any time soon.

TOTTENHAM OLD BOYS

"These are tough times for Spurs fans and they're not made easier when you see a load of ex-Spurs players plying their trade with aplomb at other Premiership clubs," moans Dan Dobson. "To make things worse, these players always up their game when playing against Spurs. Am I right in thinking that there are more ex-Spurs players currently playing in the Premiership than from any other Premier League club?"

Much as we hate giving Spurs fans another birch with which to beat themselves, Dan is indeed correct - an incredible 26 former Tottenham players have been on the pitch for other Premier League clubs so far this season, comfortably more than anyone other club in the world. Next up is West Ham, with 20 alumni playing elsewhere, and thirdly come Liverpool with 19.

Outside the Premier League, Birmingham put up an impressive show with 17, Leeds have 15, Charlton 12 and, impressively, League Two Bradford have eight. Of clubs outside the UK, Ajax, Porto, Feyenoord and Lens are the best represented, matching Bradford's tally.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"Down at the pub the other night, a friend of mine bullishly claimed he'd heard that a match was once postponed on almost 30 separate occasions. Is he having me on?" asked Jonathan Gainter in 2006.

Hail your friend, Jonathan, as he speaks the truth. Back in the icy winter of 1979, the Scottish Cup second-round clash between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk had to be postponed no fewer than 29 times. The original date for the game was January 6, but the clubs had to wait 47 days until the Kings Mills ground was eventually declared playable, on February 22. When the match finally took place, four first-half goals helped Falkirk seal their spot in the third round. However, because of the 71-day period between the second-round draw and Falkirk's win, Billy Little's side were forced to visit Dundee just three days later in round three, where a late penalty ended their cup journey.

Incredible as these 29 postponements are, the tie is still eclipsed by another Scottish Cup game that took place 16 years earlier, when sub-zero conditions again played havoc with the fixture list - and not just in Scotland but all across Britain. More than 400 English league and cup matches fell victim to the weather and the season had to be extended by a month on both sides of the border. While one FA Cup third-round tie between Coventry and Lincoln eventually took place at the 16th time of asking, the clash between Airdrie and Stranraer was busy setting a British record of 33 postponements. For Airdrie it was 34th time lucky as they ran out 3-0 victors.

Incidentally, the worst day of domestic cancellations didn't occur in 1962-63. That honour went to February 3 1940, when only one of 56 wartime league matches beat the weather. Plymouth made the most of their moment in the limelight with a 10-3 thumping of Bristol City.

"I've noticed that there are three Scottish managers in Group E of the Champions League this year – Sir Alex Ferguson, Bruce Rioch and Gordon Strachan," writes Grant Campbell. "Have there ever been more managers from one country in a European group?"

"I was curious to hear of Jorvan Vieira coaching Iraq to the 2007 Asia Cup without stepping into the country," writes Barry Derbyshire. "Was this a unique feat? Or has a club manager ever won a title without visiting the home ground?"

"Brothers Steve and Noel Hunt scored for Reading against Swansea last weekend. Have brothers ever finished as the leading scorers in a season for a club?" ponders Steve James.

"Not sure what Xabi Alonso has been saying off the ball to his opponents but, in just seven league games, he's already been the victim of three red card-inducing challenges. Has anyone else bettered this and what's the record for the player getting most opponents sent off?" muses Elliot Jacobs.